


The Birth of a Spider

by lissette



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Gen, Origin Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 06:25:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12882045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lissette/pseuds/lissette
Summary: Life was exceptionally boring and predictable for Shalnark. That is, it was until he meets some very interesting people on a chat site and ends up entwined with the Spiders.





	The Birth of a Spider

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shally](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shally/gifts).



> I do not own anything involving Hunter x Hunter, the Troupe, etc!

There is a certain rhythm that experienced gamers fall into. One of the most obvious rules is the necessity of saving your game, of setting yourself up in case of failure so you can start again instantly, an undeniable fresh start. Anyone who had spent more than five minutes online knew that rule and Shalnark was no exception. If there was any upcoming danger, any uncertainty or unpredictability, you had to prepare, you had to set yourself up to bounce back from disaster.  


Of course, it wasn’t like Shalnark had to apply that rule to his daily life. He was a teen with an overbearing mother, but nothing more painful or irritating than that. While other children may have complained if their mother constantly panicked and forced them indoors, Shal could hardly care less. Whenever Katiya had one of her “moments”, her son just shrugged and grabbed his Gameboy. Reality was more boring than fantasy after all, and at least in his games he did not have to deal with a woman who once had a panic attack over her son attempting to invite friends home.  


They lived in a small apartment near Denlon, in a neighborhood far enough away from the city to be considered suburbs but too shoddy and poor to ever be known by that name. The furniture was purchased secondhand, online, and picked up in a fashion similar to drug drops, since Katiya was incurably paranoid whenever people were concerned. One of the only perks of their home was the incredible internet service, which Shalnark utilized as much as he could.  


Katiya considered her son’s online hobbies to be entirely harmless… no digital world could be half as dangerous as the real one in her eyes. Of course, she had no idea of the online friends he was attracting.  


Bright people do not go unnoticed and that was true even in online forums and chatrooms. Shalnark did enjoy his RPG’s and multiplayer quests, but there was something supremely satisfying in actually communicating with people who did not spend hours trying to convince him that emotions were “toxic and dangerous”. He was especially fascinated with Hunters, but even that took a backseat to the Phantom Troupe.  


He knew about as much as everyone else did, mainly that the Troupe was a group of thieves who stopped at nothing to take what they wanted. The internet was cluttered with theories regarding the Spiders, and they even had actual fanbases. While some dismissed them as senseless murderers, Shalnark saw in them a potential he could not coherently describe.  


The strong took what the strong craved. It was only recent times that decided to prioritize the weak over the useful, which left the world with so many… nothings. It was like the world was cluttered with extras, while only a set few stood out and mattered.  


Shalnark was still not entirely sure whether he was one of those few.  


“Shalnark?” Katiya slipped in the front door and shut it instantly behind her, her voice rising in completely unnecessary worry. “Is that you?”  


“Who else would it be?”  


“That’s entirely unnecessary.” She pulled her hair nervously, one hand tugging on her blond hair while the other adjusted the sunglasses she never took off. She walked over to the kitchen to pat her son’s shoulder (Shal nonchalantly closed the browser he was theorizing with strangers about the Troupe on and opened a more harmless RPG as she did so).  


“How was work?” Shal said brightly, then laughed. He had no idea what his mother even did for a living and asking about it had never gotten him anything but long lectures about how anger was dangerous, because those two things were obviously connected.  


She hummed in answer to that and walked away. As soon as she did so, Shalnark reopened the tab on the Troupe in time to see a new message pop up on his board.  


“Why do you think the Troupe is incomplete?”  


It was in response to a previous comment that Shal had made during a discussion of whether or not the Troupe was attempting to stage a coup in Padokia. It was a laughable conspiracy theory, but Shal could not resist throwing in his opinion (something about how only idiots would think a partially complete group of thieves would have any interest in getting involved in government).  


He opened a chatroom with the user (called HellofHeaven) and responded quickly, “One of the notes they left behind when they robbed that Gorteau warlord had a twelve-legged spider drawn on it and it’s my theory that each of the legs refer to a member. Since the current count seems to be around ten, I’d guess there are at least two more spots.”  


He hardly had to wait before the response alert pinged on his screen. “And are you hoping to be one of those members?”  


Shalnark laughed out loud and that, drawing a look from Katiya. “One of the NPC’s made a joke. Go back to your book, Mama.”  


He typed back, still chuckling. “I read a firsthand account from one of the police authorities after the Gorteau incident that estimated that one of the members was over seven feet tall and strong enough to rip steel doors off their hinges. I doubt a computer nerd would fit in with people like that.”  


Another user ( this one named BladeEnhancer) joined the chatroom. “I bet the big guy’s an idiot thouh.”  


A third user (threadsandstitches) joined the group, just to drop in one comment and then leave. “Brave words from a man who can’t spell and whose username sounds like a dick joke.”  


Shalnark couldn’t help but laugh when he saw BladeEnhancer change his name to IaidoMaster.  


HellofHeaven responded after a brief pause, “You have access to police records?”  


“The police have terrible firewalls on their sites, it’s basically a joke.”  
“Where do you think they’ll strike next?”  


Shalnark sat back in his chair, feeling an odd and indescribable sense of opportunity, “I don’t have any idea where they will go next, but I have an idea on where they should go. A museum in Denlon is shutting down, so all of their treasures are getting separated and sold off at the end of this month. Security is at an all-time high while all of the items are getting divvied up and there will never be another chance to get all of those riches.”  


No one answered in the thread for a solid ten minutes. Shalnark was just beginning to doubt that anyone was going to respond when HellofHeaven added a final question, “Why would the Troupe go after such heavily guarded treasure?”  


There was no hesitating in Shal’s answer now, “Isn’t all that danger the point?”  


The only response was a notice from the message board, “HellofHeaven has left the chat.”  


_ _ _ _ _  


Shalnark could not help but be the slightest bit hopeful as the last day of the month began to end. Though there was no way to accurately pinpoint the Troupe’s targets, he did hope that his intuition would be correct. And as it did so, he began to tire of waiting.  


Katiya seemed to sense his growing restlessness and only served to fuel it. “Where are you hoping to go? You have no idea on what this world is like, you have no idea the people that search for us….”  


Shalnark had listened to his mother’s ravings about “the people” who were after them, but as far as he could tell it was just a figment of her paranoia, one likely fueled by her little drug habit.  


“If you knew, Shalnark, you would thank me.”  


“Knew what?” Shal did not even look up from his computer, already bored with the conversation.  


Katiya turned away impatiently, waving a shaking hand dismissively.  


“Maybe I’ll get to meet these people when I leave tonight.” The words were spoken in his usual bright and cheerful voice, so smoothly delivered that it took a moment for the impact of his declaration to hit Katiya.  


“You what?” She spun back around and strode across the living room, slamming the laptop closed. “What are you thinking? What are you hoping to accomplish?”  


“Not sure yet.”  


“Shalnark, Shalnark.” Katiya grabbed her son’s shoulders and pulled him to his feet, staring him in the eyes (or at least he supposed she did, hers were still obscured by those sunglasses after all). “You can’t. You don’t know the world, not like I do.”  


Shalnark sighed, looking for all the world like the typical teenager. “Then I’ll get to meet it.”  


He strode away from her, graceful and confident, while she stumbled after him, still addled by drugs. As she made a final grab for Shal, she stumbled the slightest bit, causing her glasses to fall to the floor.  


Shalnark had always assumed his mother’s eyes to be the same color as his own, but as he met his mother’s eyes all he saw was a blazing, flaming red.  


Kurta, thought Shal, not so much shocked as curious. Ooooooh, he thought, that makes sense.  


A reclusive clan of people, all in hiding due to the fact their eyes (which turned red in times of distress) were among the most prized treasures of the world. They all lived in seclusion, in a hidden city (or village, numbers on the people seemed to vary) and none had ever seen them.  


“Emotions are dangerous, Shalnark,” he remembered his mother telling him. “Never, ever let them take a foothold in your life.”  


For whatever reason, his mother had left the Kurta’s but retained (or maybe enhanced) their protectiveness. Her eyes (her Scarlet eyes) widened with horror as her son saw for the first time who she really was.  


“I’ll make scarier friends than whoever you are afraid of, Mama.” Not entirely sure why, he patted his mother’s shoulder in comfort. “Just in case any Kurta enemies come after me.”  


She held onto his hand, her grip tightening, “No! The Kurta’s are the ones I’m afraid of!”  


“Then it shouldn’t be hard to make friends scarier than a reclusive clan.” With none of his belongings, no trinkets to remember his life, he left to open the door. “Goodbye, Mama.”  


_ _ _ _ _  


The nightlife in Denlon was interesting, far more captivating than he had been anticipating. The plan was to watch over the Denlonian museum (just in case), but he kept catching himself wandering off, drawn in by the lights and the people like a moth to flame.  


He did not feel particularly guilty about leaving his mother. She had cared for him and raised him, but she also hid and neglected him. The relationship was no longer beneficial, so the reasonable (and honestly, humane) action was to leave. Maybe she would be able to begin to live a life not entirely consumed with fear or maybe not. If Shal had stayed with her, he would have stayed an extra, just decoration in the background while the real players lived.  


He arrived at the museum right after the sun had set, just as the police cars began to gather like flies. He was pleased to see he had not overestimated the level of protectiveness that the museum pieces warranted and climbed one of the buildings nearby to perch on the roof and watch all of the lights gather around him.  


He knew it was a tremendous gamble to assume that the Troupe would gather here. He assumed they would, simply because he knew of their love for danger (and thievery). Logically, this was an excellent target for them. But there remained a distinct possibility that they were on the complete other side of the world.  


He leaned back against the curved roof, closing his eyes. If the Spiders came, he doubted they’d arrive quietly so he could just relax until then. He listened to the orders of the police officers below him, the traffic beneath him… and the unmistakable cocking of a gun not too far from his head.  


His eyes flew open to see a woman standing across from him, inches from the edge of the roof but obviously unconcerned with any potential danger there. She was taller than him, dressed neatly and smartly in a business suit that would have likely fit in better at a law firm than the roof of a hotel (holding a gun) but Shal doubted that comment would get him anywhere. She was blond, with a long nose and brown eyes currently fixed coldly on him.  


She also had a gun and though that had already been noted by Shal, he felt it was worth mentioning more than twice.  


Of all of the feelings being held at gunpoint should have brought out in Shal, the strongest was annoyance. He had not staked out this spot to maybe see the Troupe only to be shot before he could even get a confirmed sighting.  


“Who are you?” Interestingly enough, Shal had been the one to ask that question first. It took the woman by surprise, but you could only tell that by the slight widening of her eyes.  


Laughter arose from the question, but it wasn’t from Shalnark or the woman. He turned in time to see another person on the roof, this one a deceptively lovely man with black hair parted over a cross tattoo on his forehead. He seemed genuinely amused at Shal and waved the woman off, “Go, Pakunoda. I can handle this.”  


With nothing more than a final curious glance at Shalnark, Pakunoda nodded to the newcomer. “Got it.” Then, as casually as if she were stepping off of a step, she walked off of the roof.  


Shal just stared at the spot where she had jumped off. “Did you just convince that woman to kill herself?”  


The man laughed again, sitting next to Shalnark as if they were old friends. “She can handle that little jump.” He held out a hand to Shal. “I presume you are BlackVoice?”  


Shal jumped a bit in response to hearing his username. Then he laughed with sheer delight. “Are you HellfromHeaven?”  


The two shook hands, both grinning. The dark-haired man then led Shal to the edge, where the blonde woman had leapt off. The duo looked down in time to see two figures charging the police, causing more damage than tanks. One was a small figure darting around so fast it was nearly impossible to track him with his eyes, whereas the other was a huge, hulking man who just aimed his hands at the security force, impossibly firing countless bullets from them.  


“You’re the Troupe.” Shal shouted a laugh, as enchanted as a child receiving a birthday present. “I was right, you would be here!”  


“In a way.” The tattooed man sat on the edge and gestured for Shalnark to do the same. “You gave us the idea for this heist, so thank you for that.”  


Shal could not take his eyes off of the battle far beneath them. More figures had entered the fray, but the most noticeable by far was a beast of a man preparing to charge. Shal recognized him as the man described in the police report, impossibly tall and muscled and… well, savage.  


The man roared in preparation for his battle, but the tattoed man beside Shal just exhaled impatiently. He leaned over the edge and shouted down at the now running man. “Uvogin, no! Come here!”  


Another roar, this one with far less excitement, and the man came to a stop. His abrupt stop actually caused a slight trench in the asphalt and he looked up at the two men in irritation. Then he crouched a bit and jumped.  


Shal followed the tattooed man’s lead and did not flinch at all as the giant leapt the entire height of the hotel and landed next to them, causing a slight indent in the roof.  


Up close, he was even more terrifying. He had rough features and wild black hair, but brown eyes with a mixture of animalistic drive and childish glee in them. He looked Shal over, almost suspiciously, then turned to the dark-haired man. “What did I do, Danchou?”  


“Didn’t I already tell you that you were not to participate in tonight’s job?” He looked back to Shal. “Fights are not allowed between members and Uvogin started a rather brutal one earlier today.”  


“Phinks is fine now and Machi was the one who instigated it.” Uvogin crossed his arms, a look distinctly reminiscent of a pout on his face. “Yet she is never the one that gets punishments.”  


Danchou rolled his eyes at that and turned his attention back on Shalnark. “Would you like to join us as a member of the Troupe?”  


His question was as casual as if he were requesting Shal’s presence at some meeting. Shal could do no more than blink in surprise (Uvogin was far less subtle about it and snorted at his boss’s words) and Danchou explained himself more. “You are obviously brilliant with computers and just reading your comments online have made it more than clear you have a gift for strategy. We need more people of your intellect.”  


“Oh, wait. Is he the one who let us know about this job?” Uvogin studied Shal with new eyes. “Thanks for the tip.” His voice dropped back into more sulky tones. “I’m sure it would have been a great fight to get those treasures.”  


Both Danchou and Shal laughed at that and Uvo sat down next to them, his long legs stretching off of the roof much farther than the other two. “I’m Uvogin. This is Chrollo.” He reached across Chrollo to extend a hand roughly the size of a baseball mitt at Shalnark.  


His skin was almost uncomfortably hot, but Shal squeezed back unhesitatingly even though his own strength was completely dwarfed by Uvogin’s. “I’m Shalnark. And the answer is yes.”  


He had just enough time to see Chrollo shrug apologetically when Uvogin yanked him off of the roof, swinging him so that for a brief second he hung in the air, nothing under him but hundreds of feet of empty air and the occasional bullet. Then he landed back on the other side of Uvo, collapsed in a heap and… laughing?  


He had the oddest sense that he had just passed his first test in the Troupe as the two men smiled at his laughter, Chrollo’s smirk tinged with the smallest amount of pride. “Are you ready to leave with us tonight, Shalnark?”  


Shal stood back up and stared down at the fight (now more accurately described as a massacre) far below them. All of the security and police were cluttered together, as drab and pointless as background compared to the vibrant and deadly Spiders surrounding them. Players, these Spiders were actual players within the grand scheme of the world and he stood at the brink of accepting to become one of them. Death and ecstasy, savagery and comradery all swirled together in his new future and Shalnark beamed to meet it.  


“Of course I am.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've ever posted! I really like the Kurta Shal theory and thats what inspired most of this. Also, I love love love Paku so she will definitely pop up in any and all of my fics.  
> Also, HellofHeaven is a reference to Paradise Lost. The full quote is "make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven" and I completely think that Chrollo would love that book
> 
> This is for SnarkySnark, who is only terrible sometimes.


End file.
